What is Hip?

Tower of Power - the most dynamic and distinctive band of survivors in Soul Music – is roaring into its unprecedented 50th anniversary with a dynamic album of all new material. A labor of love, definitively titled Soul Side of Town, this package is charged with 14 filler-free songs. As always, the songs on Tower of Power’s Soul Side of Town were primarily composed by the hit-making team of founding members Emilio Castillo and Stephen “Doc” Kupka who also hold down the world famous 5-man Tower of Power Horns.

When the 10 members of Tower of Power were in place behind Bob Boilen's desk, strategically positioned around the band's famous five-piece horn section, their first collective blast three beats into the sound check literally made the video crew jump. It was more a force of nature than a sound, and an impressive display of the "five fingers operating as one hand" concept of band cohesiveness.

"The actual Tower of Power Anniversary date is Aug. 13, 1968. Back then our band was called The Motowns and we’d been playing under that name for over a year when I met Doc on the 4th of July weekend at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, CA. He went by the name Steve Kupka back then and he was the first “Hippie” I’d ever met.

No signs of rust surface on Soul Side Of Town, Tower Of Power’s first album in eight years.

A shiny mix of taut instrumentals, soaring, medium-tempo ballads and tunes suggesting actual locales and characters, this 50th-anniversary recording affirms the trademarks of the meticulous 10-piece ensemble: a razor-sharp horn section of distinctive saxophone drama, versatile lead vocalists, song titles demanding the listener join in the fun and just enough variety to avoid predictability.